Do You Know
by x31xFloorsx
Summary: They're married and truly love one another, but she's never really accepted his dream. He's never really acknowledged how his dream job changed the life he promised her. Will they make it through, or will they fall apart? Matt StrikerxOC
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This is my very first story and I'm a little nervous, but, hopefully, you'll like it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Ashlyn-Marie. **_

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt watched his lovely wife put away groceries in the kitchen. Their third wedding anniversary was coming up, but he wasn't going to be here to celebrate it. He'd been waiting for the perfect moment to tell her, but he knew deep down that there was no such thing. No matter when he told her, it would end up in an argument. Just when he was going to join his wife in kitchen, she returned to the living room.

Ashlyn sat beside her husband on the couch, "Are you going to tell me what's been bothering you all day?"

"What?" he asked taken aback.

"Matt, I know you. There's something bothering you." Ashlyn took his hand in hers, "Just tell me."

The superstar took in his wife's reassuring smile and, somehow, managed to feel worse than he already did, "I…I won't be here for our anniversary."

The blonde woman blinked in surprise, "Maybe you should repeat yourself, because I swear I just heard you say that you wouldn't be here on our anniversary."

"You heard me correctly," he said with a sigh.

Ashlyn removed her hand from his, "You promised me, Matthew! You promised me that this year you'd be here."

"I know, and I really thought that I would be here." Matt began, "But, there's a show that night and I have a to be there."

"Once again, the _WWE_ is more important than our marriage." Ashlyn said as she stood and started to walk up the stairs to their bedroom.

Matt jumped up and followed her, "Ashlyn, our marriage is the most important thing to me."

She stopped on the stairs, "If that was true than you would be here on our anniversary."

"You knew what you were getting into when you married me." Matt lamented.

"I married Matthew Kaye, a social studies teacher at Benjamin Cardozo High School. _Not _Matt Striker, a cocky, arrogant wrestler!" she yelled.

"Ash, we're going to have plenty of wedding anniversary's, and I'll be there for them." he tried to reason.

The blonde beauty gave a bitter laugh, "That's what you said last year, and, quite frankly, I'd be amazed if we make it to a fourth one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned.

"You can figure it out yourself. You'll have plenty of time since you'll be sleeping _alone_ tonight." Ashlyn replied before continuing up the stairs. When she reached the top, she turned to look at Matt, "Use the guest bedroom or the couch. I don't really care, but don't think of even _trying _to come into our bedroom, because I'm locking the door."

Matt watched his wife's retreating back. He sighed again as he headed back down the stairs into the living room. He walked over to their fireplace and looked at the pictures that adorned the ledge. He picked up the picture from their first date. They were standing outside of the Museum of the Moving Image. He remembered how surprised she'd been.

"_How did you know?" she asked in surprise._

"_At Jessica's party, you told me and Eric that you'd always wanted to come here, but you didn't have enough time with all the studying you're having to do since you're in law school. " Matt shrugged, "Well, its summer now and you've been here for almost a year. I figured you'd like to come here."_

"_You remember me telling you that? That was almost ten months ago." Ashlyn stated._

_The young teacher smiled at her, "I remember pretty much everything you say to me. I figured every little bit would help if I was going to convince you to go on a date with me."_

"_You know I would've said yes sooner, but I'm in my first year of law school. Its hard work and I couldn't afford any distractions," the blonde explained._

"_I'm sure you are." he answered with a smile as they entered the building._

And she had been. He'd enjoyed getting to know her. He'd fallen in love with the way her eyes had lit up while they had toured the _Behind the Screen _exhibit. He'd made a promise to himself that night that he'd do whatever it took to make her eyes light up again. Matt put the picture back where it had been. He realized that he hadn't seen that special twinkle in her eyes in a long time. It hurt him to realize that he was the reason why. She was right when she said that she'd married a social studies teacher and not a wrestler. He walked down the hall to the downstairs guest bedroom. As he began to undress for bed, he tried to think of a way that he could make this up to her, but he couldn't come up with anything that could remotely fix the disappointment that he knew she felt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashlyn resisted the urge to slam the door, but she did lock it behind her. Deep down, she knew that Matt would give her time to cool down, but locking the door made her feel better. It made her feel as if she had a little control over the situation.

She laid down on the bed. As she re-ran the argument that she and Matt had just had in her mind, she knew that she'd been unfair. She couldn't deny the fact that the life they lived now was not the life that she had envisioned for them. Nor was it the life that he had promised her when they had wed. Yet, she recognized that this was his dream, and she couldn't deny him the chance to be what he truly wanted.

Ashlyn turned over on her side and saw the picture of them on their wedding day that was on the nightstand.

_Ashlyn held hands with love of her life as the preacher told them that it was time for them to recite the vows that they had written for one another. _

_Matt smiled at her and gave her hand a light squeeze before he began, "I've finally found where I'm meant to be. I belong in your heart and your life. Loving you is who I am. You made me see that I can love and deserve to be loved in return. With you, I've grown and I know that I will continue to grow into the man that I'm meant to be. I am so happy that you want to spend the rest of your life with me. Ashlyn, today I choose you to be my wife. I promise to love you, honor you, care for you, and be faithful to you, from this day forward and for the rest of our lives."_

_Ashlyn smiled at Matt, "Where there has been cold, you have brought warmth. Where my life was dark, you have brought light. I used to be afraid of falling in love, of giving my heart away. I could stand here and pledge to give you all that I am and all that I am to become but what can I give you that I haven't already given. Is there anything of me that isn't yours already? My body, my mind, my heart, even my soul. Everything that is me belonged to you long before this, and it shall be yours long after this. I will follow you anywhere. Hand in hand and heart in heart."_

She'd meant it then, and she meant it now. Ashlyn knew that she _would_ follow him anywhere, but lately she felt like he'd let go of her hand, and she was lost. The blonde felt like she no longer mattered to him, and she didn't know how much more of it she could take.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

_Review? Criticism welcomed._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I only own Ashlyn-Marie and Jamie.**_

----------------------------------------------------------

Ashlyn stood in front of their solid mahogany dresser looking into the landscape mirror while she applied her makeup. She sat in silence as her husband packed his bags. She'd agreed to drive him to the airport before he'd told her that he wouldn't be there for their wedding anniversary. The blonde didn't know if that was planning on his part to assure that they'd be in the same space, or just coincidence. Knowing Matt, though, she was inclined to believe that it was the former and not the latter.

The young attorney turned towards her husband, "I'm ready when you are."

Matt nodded, "What time do you have to be at work?"

"I took the day off," she answered before heading towards the door, "I'll be downstairs."

The wrestler shook his head, knowing there wasn't really anything he could do about the situation right now. After packing a few more articles of clothing, Matt closed his suitcase, picked up his carry on, and walked down the stairs.

When he made it to the living room, Ashlyn took his carry on from him and walked out the door.

'_It's going to be a long car ride,' _Matt thought silently as he followed her to the car.

-----------------------------------------------------

Matt remembered when he first started working for the _WWE._ When he'd needed to be dropped of at the airport, Ashlyn had always walked with him as far as security would allow. Nowadays, she parked the car and waited for him to go through the entrance doors before leaving.

Matt reached for the door handle, but stopped before he opened the door, "I don't want to leave with us like this."

"If we don't resolve this, will you stay?" the blonde woman asked as she stared straight ahead.

"Ash, you know I can't. I have a job to do." Matt defended.

"Then I guess it doesn't matter whether or not we reach some sort of compromise." Ashlyn faced Matt, "Because at the end of the day, when it comes down to me or the _WWE_, it's always wrestling first."

Matt hit hands on the dashboard, "Dammit, Ashlyn Marie you know that's not true! You are my top priority. You always have and always will come first."

"You keep saying that, but your actions don't match your words." Ashlyn sighed, "Look, Matt, I don't want you to miss your flight. We can talk about this later."

The superstar gave Ashlyn a kiss on the cheek before opening the door. He got his suitcase out of the car, and returned to the passenger seat to get his carry on.

"Matt," Ashlyn called before he shut the door, "I love you."

He gave her a small smile, "And I love you."

As he made his way towards the airports entrance, Ashlyn rested her head on the steering wheel, before starting picking up her cell phone, "Hey. Meet me at my house?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes." came the voice of her best friend.

"Don't be surprised if you beat me there. I just dropped Matt off at the airport." she replied.

"Ah. I see." Jamie said, "I'll see you in a bit."

After hanging up, Ashlyn started the car and headed home.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why don't you two just celebrate your anniversary a little early?" Jamie offered.

"Jamie, that's not what I'm angry about. He _promised _me he'd be here. This isn't the first time he's said he was going to be home and then wasn't. All because of that stupid job of his." the blonde lamented.

The raven haired woman did think Matt was wrong to promise when there was a chance he couldn't keep it. However, she understood that his heart was in the right place when he'd made the promise, "I understand that, Ash, but do you really think you're being fair to him? It's not like he asked to work that day."

"I know. I know. I just…I'm tired of feeling like I don't matter anymore." Ashlyn closed her eyes and sighed, "I _know_ I'm the most important thing in his life. It just seems like he's forgotten that."

Jamie hugged her friend, "Hey, right now you two are just going through some of the 'for worse' that comes with marriage. You'll be fine. Sometimes, it just has to get worse before it gets better."

The blonde hugged her back, "Well, it needs to get better soon. For the past year, our marriage has just gone straight to hell, and I don't know how much more of this I can take."

The young writer eyed her friend, "Sweetie, tell me you don't mean what I think you mean."

"I'm afraid so." Ashlyn answered as tears started to form in her eyes, "If something doesn't happen soon. Some sort of sign that we're moving in the right direction to fix this marriage…I'll might just ask Matt for a divorce."

"Ashlyn-Marie! Don't you think that's a little extreme?" Jamie exclaimed.

"No, I don't. I've been thinking about this for a couple of months now, and I'm sick of coming second. He goes all over the world, and expects me to be here when he gets back like the good little wife I am." Ashlyn wiped away her tears as anger flooded her system, "Somewhere along the way, I got cast aside so he can live his dream. Jamie, what about me? What about the dream of a family and the life he promised me?"

"If you divorce him, you'll never have that life," her best friend added gently.

The young blonde felt tears forming in her eyes again, "I had a life before Matt, and as much as I'd hate it, I'd manage to have one after him."

Jamie pulled Ashlyn into another embrace as the blonde started sobbing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt sat in his seat on the plane. He was willing to bet anything that by now Ashlyn was at their home, and her best friend, Jamie, was there as well. The superstar hoped that the raven haired woman would be able to get through to Ashlyn. He hated the strain that his job put on their marriage, but Matt had faith that they could get through anything. He knew that Ash would never ask him to sacrifice his dream, and that's what allowed him to get on the plane instead of staying with his wife. She'd be there when he got back. She always was.

--------------------------------------------------------

_Review?_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: I only own Ashlyn._**  
-------------------------------------------------

Ashlyn took off her shoes as soon as she walked through the door of her house. While she enjoyed her job, it did have its days where see seemed to drown in paperwork. It hadn't helped that she'd taken the previous day off. All she wanted to do was change into something more comfortable than her burgundy pants suit and go to bed. While she could do the former, the latter would have to wait because it was Tuesday.

She picked up her shoes and made her way to the master bedroom. She changed into a t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. She laid on the bed and turned on the television. Wrestling wasn't really something that held the blonde's interest. Matt knew this so he never asked her to watch. Ashlyn tuned in because, no matter how much it bored her, it was important to Matt.

She watched as her husband escorted Big Daddy V to the ring for his match against CM Punk. While she found herself a tad upset that Matt was putting their marriage on the line when all he was doing was walking some guy to the ring. She couldn't help but feel some relief that _he _wasn't in the ring wrestling.

While the match with CM Punk really held no interest for her, the match against Tommy Dreamer did make her somewhat nervous. She'd met Tommy when she'd taken some vacation time and traveled with Matt. He seemed like an intelligent person, and didn't have a problem with the fact that wrestling bored her. She cringed at the ending to the match, but held on the fact that wrestling's fake. As soon as she thought that, she immediately corrected herself. Matt always told her that wrestling was scripted, not fake. She laughed as she remembered the way he'd explained it to her.

"_So you know what's going to happen before it happens?" Ashlyn asked in confusion, "Like, you know who's going to win in advance?"_

"_Pretty much." Matt replied._

_Ashlyn pursed her lips, "Then why do you hate it when people call it fake? I mean, if you already _know_ what's going to happen, there's no surprise."_

"_The wrestlers know what's going to happen. The fans can only speculate, and it's not fake." he defended._

"_If it's not fake, according to you, and it's isn't real, according the information you've told me, than what is it?" she questioned._

"_It's scripted." the social studies teacher simply replied._

_The young attorney laughed as she lightly hit him on the arm, "And you're going to explain that to me, right?"_

_Matt put his arm around her, "Of course, my dear. Think of it this way. Just because a wrestler knows that he's going to jump off a ladder and put someone through a table doesn't mean that it won't hurt."_

_Ashlyn nodded her head in understanding, "That makes sense," she rested her head on his shoulder, "This is what you want to do?"_

"_Yep." Matt began, "Don't get me wrong, I love teaching. I love bringing history to life for the kids, but…"_

"_There's a part of you that knows you love wrestling just a little bit more." Ashlyn finished._

"_Exactly. As it stand's now, I'm just wrestling on independent circuits. Nothing really big. I'd love to wrestle for the WWE or even TNA, but it'll probably never happen. So, for now, I just do what I can." the young man explained._

Ashlyn shook her head as she remembered how he'd been so sure that his dream would never fully blossom. She'd fallen in love with and married Matthew Kaye, social studies teacher and 'weekend wrestler.' She supposed that was the problem. They both had never expected wrestling to become him full time job, but his dream _had_ come true and it had changed everything. Ashlyn truly wished that she could be behind him 100 percent when it came to wrestling, but a part of her couldn't let go of their old life that had seemed so perfect.

Ashlyn started thinking of all the ways their marriage had changed. By the time she actually tuned back into _ECW_, she was just in time to see the Boogeyman with a worm hanging out of his mouth. She rolled her eyes in disgust and turned off the television.

The blonde attorney went into the bathroom that she shared with her husband. She took off her make up, and put her hair into a ponytail. When she exited the bathroom, Ash turned out the bedroom light. She picked up her cell phone off the nightstand and went to set on the bench in front of the window. She stared up at the moon and the stars. Nighttime had always been her favorite time of all.

"_Love is insane, and, baby, we are too. It's our hearts little grave and the salt in our wounds," _sang Ville Valo's voice from her phone.

"Hello." she answered.

"Hey, sweetheart." Matt replied, "I miss you."

Ashlyn smiled, "I miss you, too."

"So, did you watch tonight?" the wrestler inquired.

Ashlyn's smile disappeared, "Of course I watched, Matt. I _always _watch. Why do you feel that you have to ask me that every Tuesday?"

"It was just a question, Ash. Calm down." Matt sighed, "Do you always have to insinuate that I'm implying something when I'm really not?"

"Well, I'm sorry if I have a problem with you asking me _every_ Tuesday if I watched your stupid show." Ashlyn spat, "You didn't even do anything, but stand outside of the ring. You are just _soooooo_ important to the _WWE_."

Matt shook his head, "And here we go! Just because you don't like it does not mean that it's stupid. As for my role in the _WWE,_ it's called working your way up. Nothing is being handed to me, and I'm more than willing to work hard for what I get. And I only asked about you watching since you didn't answer the phone at all when I called you yesterday so I didn't know whether or not you'd watch since you're obviously still angry at me."

Ashlyn took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Matt. I understand why you asked. I'm not mad at you anymore, either. I'm just…disappointed. You never used to break your promises to me. Now, it's like, if you promise me than I know it's not going to happen."

"Ash, I know I let you down. If I could make it up to you, I swear I would." he stated sincerely.

"I know, babe. I know." Ashlyn replied with a sad smile.

"Hey! Why don't you travel with me that day? We could spend the whole day together. If you get bored at the show, you can always just hang out with Tommy." Matt suggested.

"I'd love that. I really would, but I used my last personal day yesterday, so I have to work." Ashlyn informed him.

"Call in a sick day." the superstar replied.

For some reason, that statement irritated Ashlyn, "Why don't _you_ call in a sick day?"

"Because that got me in enough trouble the last time I did that, remember?" Matt joked, trying to prevent another argument.

Ashlyn laughed, "Oh, believe me. I remember."

"Well, I've got an early flight tomorrow so I should probably get to the hotel."

"Where are you right now?" the young blonde asked.

"In the arena parking lot." he answered.

Ashlyn raised an eyebrow, "Why are you still in the parking lot?"

The wrestler chuckled a bit, "Because you always yell at me for driving and talking on my cell phone. I'm a good husband. I listen to and obey my wife."

Ash laughed before taking on a serious tone, "You really are a good husband, Matt. I know that lately we've been getting into more and more arguments, but I know that you're trying."

"I love you Ashlyn-Marie." Matt said.

"And I love you." the blonde replied.

"I'll call you in the morning before I get on my plane."

"Alright. Good-bye."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt had a smile on his face as he hung up the phone. It had been awhile since a conversation they had over the phone had actually ended on a good note. As he pulled out of the arena, he thought of how why they always said, 'and I love you' instead of 'I love you, too.'

"_I love you, Matt." Ashlyn said._

"_I love you, too." the young teacher replied. When he was met with a small frown from Ashlyn, he inquired, "What's wrong."_

"_So, we've been saying 'I love you' for awhile now, right?" Ashlyn asked._

_Matt paused the movie that they had rented for the night, "Yes, we have. Why?"_

"_Okay. So, people always say 'I love you, too' after someone has told them 'I love you,' right?" she inquired._

"_That's normally what happens, yes." the social studies teacher answered, not sure where this was going._

"_Well, that's always bugged me. It sounds like the other person is only saying it _because_ the other person said it first."_

"_I'm assuming you have a solution to that problem." Matt replied with a chuckle._

"_Of course!" Ashlyn said giving him a big smile, "After the first person says 'I love you', the other person then replies, 'And I love you.' That makes it sound more like a fact than an automatic response."_

_Matt pulled her closer to him, "You are a very special lady."_

"_You wouldn't have me any other way. Ordinary is so boring anyway." _

"_Yes. Yes it is."_

_Ashlyn closed her eyes and took in the nice smell of his cologne, "I love you, Matt."_

"_And I love you, Ashlyn-Marie, I love you." he replied before giving her a light peck on the cheek._

Matt pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. Hopping from hotel to hotel is probably the only part of the lifestyle that he never seemed to get used to. He was pretty sure, however, that that was because it meant not being in the same bed as Ashlyn.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashlyn smiled as she hung up the phone. If she over looked the argument, it was a really nice phone call and made her miss him even more. She shook her head as she made her way back to the bed. As she laid there for a few minutes, but something just felt off. Ash got up and opened the closet that she and her husband shared. After pulling out one of his dress shirts, she headed to the bathroom and lightly sprayed it with some of his cologne. She smiled as she thought of how he always left a small bottle of the brand he wears so that she would have it to use. After she sprayed it, she put it on and laid back down on the bed.

'_Perfect_' she thought before she fell asleep.  
------------------------------------------------------------  
_Don't you want to leave me a review?_


End file.
